Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cwemory]

When is "why to" appropriate to use? I thought that "why" should be followed by an infinitive without "to", but a Google search shows nearly 2,000,000 entries for "why to". Is it an advertising/journalism convention, or are there circumstance where it is more correct to use "why to" than "why + infinitive"?

[cwemory]

bump...
Please help. Are all grammartarians already on summer vacation?

[some waygug-in]

I've personally never heard of "why to" as being a proper grammatical construction.

It sounds to me like something out of a movie someone heard somewhere and they decided it must be a new "grammar rule" or something.

Of course, I don't know everything. But it seems to me that this is just bad English.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

It looks like "Why to" is the same as "How to" in the sense that it's the title of an article on giving reasons why you should do this or that.

"Why to upgrade your computer" = "Why you should upgrade your computer."

Right, it seems that this phrase is just used as a headline in order to save typespace. No one would ever talk like that (I hope).

[cranura]

from antimoon.com:

After a rather thorough search of the net, I couldn't find any information on the subject. That last sentence should read something like: "I don't know why I should go there." "I don't know why I have to go there." "Why should I go there?" ....or in the colloquial realm: "Why go there?"...etc. etc. The possible combinations are endless.

You will sometimes see "why + infinitive" in advertisements or articles when giving a reason to do something.

For example:

"How and why to do your own landscaping."

"Why to choose John Doe as your next representative."

"Why to consider a career in plumbing."

These are not the most elegant choices in terms of wording. It would sound better to say: "Why one might consider a career in plumbing." or "Why should you/one consider a career in plumbing." etc.

While the examples I gave may lack elegance, one will encounter them from time to time.